neohic

I reluctantly cut a large hole in my welding table today. Next step to finish up the downdraft table is to get a sink basket and connect the dots with some exhaust tubing.

Power Acoustic CP-71W.

We’ll see how it goes. Of the head units I was comparing, this one was the least offensive in appearance and I got tired of sifting through radios that were new but was trying to look not so new. Some had options I liked, but looked too old. Others had more of an ‘80s/‘90s look but the backlighting was a goofy color or something else. This one was a familiar platform, doesn’t look like a disco-tech, and wasn’t terribly priced.

How about some in-depth pictures or a thread on the Crewmanche mentioned in the article too?

Did another interior change today that may be a bit controversial. … and I had to trim the dash to install it too.

I was thinking that too. Good article though. Rad truck!

So much better.

I just found that one also. Thanks, Mike!… and Don!

Seat upholstery came up to about an 8.5/10. The amount of brown, gross drippings that came out of these was really alarming. I scrubbed and scrubbed with Purple Power and then took a trip to the self serve car wash. Everything got wrung out pretty good and then hung up on things around the shop. The driver side seat bottom got looked at too. I was hesitant about trying to weld on it because I didn’t want to ruin the foam, but I think 245+k miles took care of that anyhow. Thinking I’ll either get some foam or try and harvest some from the seat bottoms of the current Ford seats since I’m not planning on trying to sell them anyhow. As for the cracked seat pan, I bent it back, welded the cracks, and then hit it with a big ol’ finger full of RTV since the vinyl will be touching the repair. Next on the list is to figure out how to get these little guys off. The roll pin doesn’t go all the way through. I do have a back up plan if they get ruined, but I’d like to save them if I can. Open to suggestions.

Long gone.

Started on getting the seat upholstery off the foam today. There’s plenty of how-to information online on how to clean up these seats, but I documented mine anyhow. My seats were obviously out already, but the seat brackets were also removed years ago. These seats have been in storage since they came out and I was very happy to find a super minimal amount of mouse evidence. I started with them on my table. Along the back of the seat bottom are a couple hooks that come out followed by the elastic band. Then the striker plate for the backrest needs to come off along with the six screws around the perimeter. With the screws out, pull the couple retainer wires back and out of the seat bottom. The seat foam pulls right off after reaching in to pull the upholstery from the hook and loop tape. The foam is fine(ish) but the sheet metal base has the typical crack. As for the backrest, it starts with undoing more hook and loop, then gently pulling the vinyl over the hook. Gently lifting the middle of the backrest up, you’ll see a ropey thing that the side wings hook around. These come right off and the upholstery then gets peeled off the center foam. I flipped over the seat to get to the head rest socket dealies. The two little tabs get pushed together and they pull right out the top of the backrest. Again, the foam is in fine shape. Last were the headrests. Couple screws come out and the vinyl comes off. With everything apart, I took the opportunity to replace the cheesy zip ties that hold the flip-forward mechanism cable with some mechanics wire. Neither side would flip forward when they were in the truck. This’ll be a nice change as the current seats also don’t flip forward. I’m on the lookout for a good bottom seat cushion to replace the cracked side but I’m also looking into fixing it. Maybe rivet a patch in there? Don’t think I dare try and pull the foam off to weld up the crack. Time to clean the upholstery.

This definitely has a heavy clutch feel but I’m fortunate enough that, of my two bad knees, my right knee is the worse of pair.

Shop day for the CJ. Ever since the NP435 swap the clutch hasn’t felt quite as sweet as it once did. I think a ton of the issues were coming from what was left of the pivot points. The clutch side of the bell crank was equally wallered out to the point of being completely whopper-jawed. Everything felt tight on the pedal side though. Here’s where I started… With the clutch side taken apart, I got the bell crank out to fix the pivot holes. I decided to lengthen it to have some course adjustment availability. Then the arm got a heim joint to replace the half worn ear. … added a super cheesy clutch stop too since I think it was over extending the clutch ears with all the slip taken out. Feels silly smooth now.

Absolutely. This fume extractor can be used for painting also. There’s a magnet based attachment for when the welding activities venture away from the table also. Should’ve had something like this years ago.

Slowly poisoning?!… it’s been 20+ years at this point that I’ve been doing this dumb stuff. Damage has already been done. Repercussions are being processed. Use your PPE, kids. Future you will thank you.

Welcome back! Used to love updates on that truck!!

Not doing it right unless you’re doing it twice.

I've had a bench seat truck that had this same dent. I assumed the same thing!

It IS exciting though! I love throwing junk material and parts at things to get an idea of what you’re working with. It’s like big kid Legos!

Sorry to hear that. Hoping everything works out as best as it can for you.

Congratulations! Such an awesome truck and a huge thank you for supporting these truck the way you do.

Bit of an update on the shop… not much has changed. That’s okay though! I still consider this shop a “best of album” when it comes to having things dialed in just how I like it. What I’ve found with this shop is that I really like having work stations on wheels that get rearranged depending on what the project it. The welding table has gone through a couple changes over the years but it has never been just right. Unfortunately it also is a large, flat spot that collects things. In the past I added a shelf for grinder storage, a bench vice, and a pile of tabs and hooks for things. None of it was ever awesome. Time for a refresh! What I thought was that I originally made it too tall. The top is 42” and I always had things mounted to it. I always stand when I’m welding so the height there is good. The problem comes in with the bench vice. I recently picked up another, so my homemade vice is getting moved to a stand-alone mount. The new (very old?) vice got hung under the table and swings out to a comfortable work height. Then there’s the grinders… I’ve got space for five grinders without any of them sitting on top of each other and almost enough space for an appropriate amount of wheels. Years ago I was given a pile of cut wheels and I’m still working through them. I’m not a fan of cut wheels, but the price was right. The main reason for the table refresh was the addition of a fume extractor. I’d say that most of my fabrication projects happen when the weather isn’t so great and I find myself holed up in my shop. I’d be in there all day, take a step outside, and then that’s when I realize that the air inside is blue. I try and weld with a respirator on, but that doesn’t help much when ALL of the air in the shop is disgusting. Enter a fine extractor to catch most of the junk and heavy metals at the source. This also means that I need to cut a giant hole. My plan is to a turn big, single basin sink into a down-draft table. The big hole in the top will be cut into two lift out covers that sit on slats hung from underneath. When the covers are on, I’ll still have the whole tabletop to set junk on in the future. In the meantime, I’m waiting to cut anything until I’ve got all my material to finish the job.

Bringing sexy back… I pulled the original seats out of storage to have a good look at them. Why did I get rid of these in the first place?! They’re dirty. The seat doesn’t fold forward on the drivers side. All of the plastic touch points are either broken or missing. I feel like I could’ve tried harder when I was going through the truck way back when. Glad I didn’t get rid of them though! Overall they’re still in great shape other than the missing/broken parts. There is one small crack on the driver’s seat bottom. Otherwise these are a part of this truck’s winter plans.